Sierra Nevada Space Systems Completes Two Major Milestones For NASA Commercial Crew Program

Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) CEO Fatih Ozmen announced Friday that Sierra Nevada Space Systems has completed two significant milestones as part of the Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) Program. SNC is building the Dream Chaser, a Space Shuttle-like human spacecraft for NASA to provide astronaut transport to the International Space Station (ISS). Under the CCDev2 program, SNC will conduct multiple spacecraft hardware milestones and other development activities over the next year, culminating in a system-level Preliminary Design Review (PDR) and preparation for atmospheric flight test of the Dream Chaser. As the only company under contract to NASA for development of a Shuttle-like spacecraft, SNC is positioned to quickly restore US capability to transport humans to the ISS after the Space Shuttle retires and to support other human spaceflight markets in low Earth orbit.

Artist's Concept

Mark Sirangelo, head of SNC Space Systems, reported the results. "The first milestone completed under the CCDev2 program was a Systems Requirement Review (SRR), where SNC validated their requirements based on NASA's draft Commercial Crew Program Requirements. All the requirements were approved and will be used to guide the design of the Dream Chaser to ensure that it meets the pending NASA certification requirements. Our development program completed its second milestone only two weeks after Milestone 1. This was a review of the selection of the improved airfoil fin shape to be used on the Dream Chaser which will improve the handling qualities of the spacecraft as it flies in the atmosphere on return from space to a gentle runway landing."

Jim Voss, Vice President of SNC's Space Exploration added, "These important milestones set the stage for completing significant work during the CCDev2 Program. The rapid development enabled by our partnership with NASA will ensure that our Nation retains its leadership in human spaceflight."

FMI: www.sncorp.com